


An Adventure Through Time, Space, and Telephone Providers

by Mysteriesofadia



Category: Doctor Who
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-05-18 10:20:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5924862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysteriesofadia/pseuds/Mysteriesofadia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short story in which a one-time companion joins The Doctor in saving Earth once again, this time from the Roya. Leave it to Captain Jack to sleep with a princess resulting in an entire army on a quest to destroy humanity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Adventure Through Time, Space, and Telephone Providers

“Where are we going?”

“Anywhere you want.”

After losing yet another companion, The Doctor’s plans to mope around The TARDIS were rudely interrupted by a collision with the Titanic. Adventure seemed to follow him everywhere, adventure and misery. It appeared that The Doctor was destined to be alone. Rose couldn’t stay. Martha had to go. Each companion brought new stories, new life to The Doctor’s 900 years, and every time ended the same: The Doctor and The TARDIS, alone. Then came Astrid, a waitress from Sto with a powerful need to explore. She sacrificed her own life to save an entire planet, and was resurrected. With the lives of a planet at stake, she sacrificed herself to the burning fires of the engines. Because of the teleport bracelet on her wrist, her particles were suspended in space, and she was successfully brought back with some help from a trusty sonic screwdriver. Another reason to never leave home without the “wicked little contraption [used] to get out of sticky sitchs,” as stated by the Urban Dictionary.

“Anywhere I want?” A glimmer shown in Astrid’s eyes, filling The Doctor with a hope that he had thought forgotten. It was hard to ignore her childlike grin and eagerness to discover the secrets of the universe.

“Any place, any time. Tara, Clom, Sto. Perhaps not Raxacoricofallapatorius, but other than that, it’s up to you,” The Doctor wanted to take her to, maybe not the ends of the universe, but the same idea. Astrid spun around The TARDIS, excitement spelled across her face. She clutched the hem of her skirt and contemplated the infinite possibilities.

“Oh, I know. Let’s go somewhere exotic. Let’s go to … Earth.”

“I couldn’t have picked a better place myself,” The Doctor replied, spikey hair trembling. With a few switches flipped and an entire line of buttons pressed, The TARDIS was up and away. “I’m thinking we pay a visit to the creation of Winged Victory. I always wanted to know how the folds of her dress were chiseled so accurately.”

“Winged Victory? What is that? Sounds like an angel,” she pondered aloud. Suddenly, The TARDIS shook, throwing Astrid into the wall. “Scratch that, what was _that_?” The Doctor ran to the controls, flipping levers as he went. Everything went quiet, then an odd voice began to speak.

“Mr. Watson-” _I know that voice_ , thought The Doctor. _How do I know that voice?_

“Mr. Watson, come here-” _Bell, something with bells and roses…_

“Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you.” _No, not roses, Rose._ On a previous adventure, a companion named Rose Tyler heard that same voice on her cellphone. The voice of Alexander Graham Bell being transmitted during the first telephone call. Why would this be happening again? The only reason Rose’s phone picked up the call was because they had accidentally caused a paradox.

“Doctor?” asked Astrid. “What just happened? It felt like we switched directions.” The TARDIS shook once more and stilled, signifying that they had landed. The Doctor walked to the door and opened it cautiously. He peeked outside, then skipped back to Astrid, who was waiting with a worried look.

“No problem, but I hope you weren’t set on Greece. We seem to have made a small detour,” The Doctor wore an excited grin upon his face. “I’d place us in Boston, 1876, by the looks of it. Good year, that was. First official female boxing match took place, Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ was completed, the first telephone call was made that year. That’s it!” he shouted. “The TARDIS must have picked up the call somehow and flown here instead. It all makes sense; this must be the date of the transmission.”

“Doctor, do you know this man? He seems to be rather ecstatic to see you,” Astrid said, pointing at a rather handsome man waving at them through the open door.

“Captain Jack! Come on in,” The Doctor motioned for the man to enter. “Astrid, this is-”

“Mr. Thomas Watson,” the man interrupted. “But you, my dear, can call me Captain Jack Harkness,” he took Astrid’s hand and brought it to his lips. “ _Very_ pleased to meet you. Pardon me for asking, but did it hurt?”

“I’m not quite sure what you mean. Did what hurt?” she replied, looking to The Doctor for assistance.

“When you fell from heaven, of course.” With a wink and a smile, Jack spun her around and caught her in his arms. “Because you sure do remind me of an angel.” Blushing, Astrid pulled away and walked back to The Doctor.

“Oh, stop it,” The Doctor scolded. He put his arm around Astrid’s shoulders. “Don’t mind him, he does it to everyone and anything. So what are you doing here, and why did you say your name was Thomas Watson?” he shifted his attention back to the visitor.

“Long story short, after an amazing night with a certain Roya princess, I’m in hiding from her mother’s army. If anyone asks, my name is Mr. Watson and I work as an assistant to Alexander Graham Bell. We just performed the first telephone call,” he told the travelers. “That’s actually how I managed to call you here. I hooked up my vortex manipulator—this thing,” he showed Astrid a small device attached to his wrist. “—to the telephone and caught a signal from The TARDIS. The telephone amplified the ‘space-hopper’ as you called it,” he looked towards The Doctor, “and allowed me to alter your route. Now, there’s something I need to show you back at the workshop.” Captain Jack lead the way. “I feel like I should let you know that there is currently a fleet of warships from Sul headed toward us. It’s due to arrive in a few hours. Turn right here.”

“That can’t possibly be right!” Astrid stopped and gaped at Jack.

“Hmm, maybe it’s left,” he supposed. “I always get turned around here.”

“There is an entire Roya fleet coming to kill you, and the first thing you do is draw them to Earth? They could exterminate all life on this planet!” _How could someone possibly be this clueless?_ thought The Doctor. “Well at least show us whatever you called us here for.”

As it turns out, Bell had an interest in making contact with extraterrestrials, hence the communications device he had been attempting to make. The telephone he patented could reach short distances, for contact with ordinary people, but the telephone he designed could reach nearby objects in space, hopefully for contact with alternative life forms. No wonder the Roya were able to fly here so easily. In fact, they might not even be a few hours from landing; they could be here right now.

“Astrid,” called The Doctor. “Could you please look outside and tell me what you see? Focus on the sky, perhaps?” _Oh no, please don’t say ships._ Please _don’t say ships_ , he hoped to himself.

“Doctor, are there supposed to be ships flying above the city?”

Of course there were ships. With the timeline of the attack sped up, they had little time to figure out a solution.

“We have to send them back to Sul somehow, but an entire Roya fleet? What has enough power to do that?” The Doctor was now pacing around the workshop.

“What if we repeat what you did to our ship?” Astrid asked Captain Jack, who was looking at the incoming ships. “Can we use your vortex-thingy and telephone to switch their route? It worked once, why not twice?”

“That won’t work,” The Doctor said. “It’s running low on power, and doesn’t have the strength to affect that many ships.” The Doctor stopped suddenly and looked at her. She was playing with the teleport bracelet on her wrist. “You’re a genius!” He ran up and kissed her, then turned to Jack. “We can use the telephone to boost the signal of the teleport and send them home! Someone can attach the bracelet to the mother ship, and then we can magnify it with the telephone from here. Oh, no. Never mind,” The Doctor seemed to sink a bit and sat on a railing.

“What’s wrong? It’s a brilliant plan!” Jack grabbed The Doctor by his shoulders and looked into his eyes. “If you’re worried about the range, the fleet is almost here. No need to amplify it more than a few miles.”

“Using the teleport would mean that my particles are no longer contained from the incident with the engines. In order to save the Earth, I have to give my life.” Astrid gently removed the sonic screwdriver from The Doctor’s hand. With the touch of a button, she was gone. Why did this keep happening to The Doctor? This is why he didn’t tell Astrid why he didn’t want to carry out the plan. All of his companions sacrificed themselves so easily, and he was always left alone.

“Doctor, we’re running out of time. Don’t let her life go to waste.” Jack was pulling The Doctor toward the telephone, and after a few fidgets, the Roya were headed back to Sul, leaving the two alone in the workshop.

Misery seemed to follow The Doctor everywhere. It appeared that he was destined to be alone. Rose couldn’t stay. Martha had to go. Astrid gave her life one time too many. Each companion brought new stories, new life to The Doctor’s 900 years, and every time ended the same: The Doctor and The TARDIS, alone.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first published work, adapted from an English assignment. It could be better, but I had an absurdly low word limit. If you guys show interest, I'll write some more.


End file.
